Broken Record

Santigold is an artist who exists at the cross-section of punk, dub, new wave and indie pop. Long frustrated with attempts like these to classify her style, Santi has always been a proud outlier among the restrictive categories used to divide music. Santi’s anti-establishment bent was in part a reaction to working as an A&R for Epic Records’ black music department. Frustrated with what they categorized as “urban music” in the early aughts, Santi left her job, went home to Philly, and started a punk band called Stiffed. After honing her chops for a few years as a lead singer, Santi released her debut solo album, Santigold in 2008. The album’s lead singles “Creator” and “L.E.S. Artistes” were a revelation when they came out, and led to Santi headlining tours around the world and even opening shows for Bjork, Coldplay, Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys. Now with three other albums to her credit, including last year’s soul-stirring Spirituals, Santigold is celebrating the 15th anniversary of her debut release. And t